Live at Heathers Nov. 18th Podcast

The podcast of my Nov. 18th set at Heathers is up - here's the link to the mp3.
here's the setlist...


echo & the bunnymen - fuel

j.j. burnel - triumph [of the good city]

young marble giants - brand-new-life

the vaselines - son of a gun

the jesus and mary chain - just like honey

the feelies - moscow nights

eyeless in gaza - ever present

artery - the death of peter x

crispy ambulance - come on

lowlife - big fat funky whale

soul - tribes

wake - make you understand

the sun and the moon - speed of life

the the - this is the day

felt - my face is on fire

china crisis - feel to be driven away

the dream academy - the edge of forever

prefab sprout - bonny

yaz - nobody's diary

tones on tail - lions

depeche mode - leave in silence

nu shooz - you put me in a trance

kleeer - intimate connection

the jets - private number

reflex - the politics of dancing

prince - let's pretend we're married

real life - send me an angel

stephen tin tin duffy - kiss me [with your mouth]

liquid liquid - optimo

mathematiques modernes - disco rough

james white & the blacks - contort yourself [august darnell remix]

a certain ratio - shack up

gang of four - damaged goods

adam & the ants - cartrouble, parts 1 & 2

echo & the bunnymen - all that jazz

pretenders - mystery achievement

the smiths - shakespeare's sister

the psychedelic furs - we love you

killing joke - eighties

suburban lawns - janitor

the clash - this is radio clash

the english beat - rotating heads

the specials - little bitch

katrina & the waves - walking on sunshine

the jam - town called malice

happy mondays - step on

big audio dynamite - hollywood boulevard

talking heads - born under punches [the heat goes on]

altered images - happy birthday

china crisis - african and white

madonna - lucky star

the b-52's - give me back my man

michael jackson - p.y.t. [pretty young thing]

cameo - candy

fun boy three - our lips are sealed

plastics - ignore

our daughters wedding - she was someone

silicon teens - you really got me

depeche mode - dreaming of me

david bowie - modern love

squeeze - another nail in my heart

simple minds - alive and kicking

the passions - runaway

kim wilde - chequered love

split enz - i got you

the smithereens - blood and roses

the replacements - can't hardly wait

stevie nicks - stand back

casino music - the beat goes on

eurythmics - sweet dreams [are made of this]

captain sensible - wot

sugarcubes - hit

new order - temptation

kirsty macColl - walking down madison

big audio dynamite II - kool-aid

devo - working in the coalmine

abc - when smokey sings

china crisis - no more blue horizons [fool fool fool]

book of love - book of love

obscure classics at heathers saturday night!!!

2008 has only one more Saturday night left.

We've got to make this one count!!!

This Saturday at the East Village mainstay Heathers, fill your ears with some carefully selected classics from in and around the 80's.  Post punk, new wave and indie rock.  Obscure favorites and underplayed classics with a healthy dose of old standby's.

 Come early for a free mix CD, limited supply...

See you there!

 

http://going.com/obscureclassicssaturday

new order confusion video

this 1983 hit for new order was co-written and co-produced by arthur baker [the long haired guy in the video] who became famous for his work on afrika bambaataa's soul sonic force hit, 'planet rock'. blondie and the clash had already done the crossover bit, but these pastey boys from manchester's moody existential legacy peaking at number 5 in the US dance club chart is kind of a milestone. a slightly different flavor of crossover, subtle but definitely unique. and the video is a nice little slice [no pun intended] of new york nightlife at the time. [thank you ross, for recommending this and giving me a little history lesson!]

sunday afternoon mini mix

the sound ~ new dark age
simple minds ~ boys from brazil
a flock of seagulls ~ nightmares
midnight oil ~ power and the passion
tears for fears ~ mothers talk
electronic ~ tighten up



i was going to make this mix longer, but i decided short and sweet was the way. plus i had somewhere to go : ) all about BIG drums and orchestra hits, enjoy!

wednesday night at my place

10,000 maniacs ~ pit viper
eyeless in gaza ~ two
r.e.m. ~ 9 - 9
echo & the bunnymen ~ a promise
u2 ~ the electric co.
the names ~ floating world
the passions ~ runaway
the psychedelic furs ~ highwire days
sad lovers & giants ~ alice {isn't playing}
crispy ambulance ~ a sense of reason {session}
the dance society ~ these frayed edges
gary numan ~ tracks



here's some of the stuff i've been listening to lately, and more particularly, tonight. some lesser known songs by better known artists in there, plus some more obscure artists.
i've been digging into my old 10,000 maniacs collection lately. i forgot how much i like it. for a while it was a bit of a guilty pleasure i'd only play every now and then. i think because the band became famous for their later stuff, and they had this pop folk stigma. just not my scene. their early 80's material [like pit viper] was much edgier, and natalie merchant's lyrics weren't so club-you-over-the-head-obvious-what-the song-is-about. her early lyrics were sometimes on the cryptic side, more poetic in my opinion. i actually like when i can't tell what the song is about. i like to make my own interpretation. the same can be said for r.e.m.'s early stuff [like 9-9 which is off of murmur], who knows what michael stipe was singing about. in interviews, he says that a lot of it was just made up off the top of his head because it sounded nice.
speaking of singers, my latest obsession is eyeless in gaza. martyn bates' spastic vocal style is the cats pajamas... to me. best slept-on band i've heard in a while. not all hits, but i've been finding some gems in their collection... okay, enough opinions.
here's a couple facts:

1. my friends' new band is pretty rad. their called hunters and they are playing at a new york indie showcase with a lot of other rad bands this friday at 8pm sharp. info and songs here.

2. i have another DJ gig coming up very soon, so stay tuned!

about last night

ps - there really was absinthe! [and i had some] a thousand thankyou's to everyone who came last night, i had fun! hope you enjoyed it.

i tried to play mostly old gems that were kind of off the radar back in the day [circa 80's], and just a dash of classic standby's for good measure.

hearing all classics is tiring, to me, like being on a hamster wheel, not that i've done that, but i can sympathize. feels like your not getting anywhere, not breaking new ground. too much nostalgia is annoying that way.

on the other hand, hearing all obscure tracks can be tiring as well, more like treading water in the middle of an ocean. nothing to hold on to. you may hear something you like, but it gets lost among all the other songs you've never heard before.

but when you hear something like "once in a lifetime" by talking heads followed by a post punk band like orange juice instead of the van halen song that usually followed it on the radio, it makes sense. it sounds fresh now, because its in its natural habitat, free to roam blah blah blah...

anyways thats my little snippet of dj theory for the day.

some requests that i missed last night [its always the one thing i didn't bring] : old magnetic fields, oingo boingo, and i flaked again on the gary numan/pleasure principle... next time, i promise.

stay tuned...

synths and absinthe at heathers tuesday night

another installment of obscure classics!
fave new wave, classic post punk & indie rock circa the 80's
at heathers bar
this tuesday nov.18th
9pm - 2am
506 E. 13th st.
between A & B


add 3john as a friend at going.com:
http://newyork.going.com/synthsandabsinthe